1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to systems for distributing liquid solutions over a wide area and, more particularly, to an apparatus for both directing a liquid flow into a fluid container structure and drawing a liquid solution for distribution therefrom.
2. Description of Related Art
Liquid distribution systems that can be connected to a pressurized fluid supply, for example, a garden hose coupled to a commercial water distribution system, for dispensing water over a wide area, for example, a lawn are well known in the art. Equally well known in the art are liquid distribution systems which include a device or other structure to divert water from the liquid distribution system to a fluid container structure where the water is mixed with lawn care chemicals, for example, fertilizers and/or pesticides, in either liquid or solid form. The water/lawn care chemical mixture is then returned to the liquid distribution system for dispersement onto the lawn.
Certain ones of these devices are self contained units in that, on one side, an inlet is provided for interconnecting the device to the pressurized fluid supply and, on the other side, an outlet is provided from which a mixture of the supplied water and lawn care chemical is returned to the liquid distribution system. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,133,498 and 5,188,294, both to Sealy et al., disclose a device for dispensing a mixture of water and a lawn care chemical. The device includes a fluid container structure having a sidewall in which inlet and outlet ports for respective coupling with a pressurized fluid supply and a liquid distribution system, are provided. Interconnected between the inlet and outlet ports is a liquid conduit which includes a diverter valve for diverting water from the conduit into the interior of the fluid container structure, a liquid volume controller for controlling the amount of liquid passing through the conduit and a venturi for drawing liquid diverted into the interior of the fluid container structure back into the liquid conduit. Access to the diverter valve, liquid volume controller, venturi and the interior of the fluid container structure is limited by a lid structure which may be lockingly engaged with the sidewall of the fluid container structure.
While configured in a very desirable fashion, there are several aspects in which the aforementioned dispensing device could be improved. As previously mentioned, the liquid diverting and mixture drawing components are fixedly secured to the fluid container structure. Thus, in order to use the liquid diverting and mixture drawing components, the consumer must also purchase the fluid container and lid structures. Not only does this unnecessarily add to the cost of purchasing such a system, many consumers who already own fluid container and lid structures, are forced into purchasing duplicative items. Finally, when configured in the aforementioned manner, the replacement cost for such systems are dramatically increased. As one can readily appreciate, the liquid diverting and mixture drawing structures constitute an appreciable portion of the cost of such systems. However, when configured in the aforementioned manner, many consumers would be obliged to replace the entire system if only the fluid container or lid structures became cracked or otherwise damaged.
When the mixture of water and lawn care chemicals are to be distributed over particularly large yards, the devices which mix water and chemicals must often be moved from location to location. However, devices such as that previously described tend to be relatively difficult to move from place to place. In particular, carrying the fluid container structure can often be unwieldy. If it was possible to position one or more fluid container structures at desired locations and then transport the liquid diverting and mixture drawing structures to each of these locations, a significant "ease of use" problem would be solved. While certain configurations, see, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,527,740 to Gunzel, Jr. et al., of these devices may be considered to be of the "hand-held" type and would, therefore, be easier to transport between locations, such devices tend to have the liquid diverting and mixture drawing structures permanently attached to the lid structure which attaches to a container from which the diverted fluid mixture is drawn. Thus, once again, the liquid diverting and mixture structures, the fluid container structure and the lid structure are commercially sold as a single unit, again adding to the cost of purchasing or replacing such a system. In addition, these systems are usually small in size and the dispensing nozzle of the device is typically designed for directly dispensing the fluids from the unit onto the lawn and thus does not have any means for connecting the device to another liquid dispensing apparatus such as a lawn sprinkler. This disadvantageous design, therefore, requires the user to continuously hold the unit until application is complete.
It would be desirable, therefore, to provide a hand-held, readily portable device, couplable with a pressurized fluid supply and a liquid distribution system, for diverting water from the pressurized fluid supply to a desired destination such as a stand-alone fluid container structure and for drawing a mixture of the diverted water and a lawn care chemical from the stand-alone fluid container structure and into a liquid distribution system. Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide such a device.